Xerox is Creating an Algorithm to Find Quality in Photos

Computers are capable of a lot of things but without having emotions and the same kind of thinking process that humans have, they can’t exactly process art. What they can do, according to a new project undertaken by Xerox, is understand aesthetics.

Some of the things that make photos good are based on things that are easily measured. The rule of thirds, for example, or proper lighting. That’s exactly what the Aesthetic Quality Image Search is designed to identify.

Swing on over to Xerox for a demonstration of how it works. First the engine divides photos into categories and then sorts out the good from the bad. It’s not perfect by any means – there’s a woman in the bird section and a few “bad” shots that we rather like – but it’s a really good start. Something like this implemented into image searches or into a program that lets you quick-sort your own photos could be a very cool application.